LPI research warns of L&D skills/technology gap

Annual report on workplace learning shows L&D practitioner skills are out of step with technology.

Synopsis by Donald H. Taylor

The LPI Learning Survey is the largest survey of the UK’s learning and development professionals. Each year it provides a telling insight into the reality behind the hype and shows what the people who work in L&D are really thinking and doing.

The answer is clear: we are shifting towards that long-predicted greater use of learning technologies, but at a far slower pace the hyperbole would have us believe.

As the survey shows each year: instructor-led training is alive and well. It provides high student satisfaction, meets a diverse range of needs and is the medium which results in the greatest rates of student completion. And yet, if this field were expanding, it would be difficult to hire staff. It is not. In fact, according to our survey, it is easier to hire classroom instructors than any other type of learning specialist. This can only mean one thing: classroom delivery is contracting. In contrast, and despite the best efforts of the LPI and its Certified Online Learning Facilitator course, skilled online facilitators are very hard to find. William Gibson famously said: “the future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed”. He could have added: “and that won’t change any time soon”. You can rely on the LPI to let you know when we get there.

– Donald H. Taylor

The results are taken from the Learning Survey 2015 report commissioned by The Learning and Performance Institute (LPI). Nearly 500 L&D professionals within the UK took part in the survey this year. The results were revealed at the Institute’s Chief Learning Officer and Learning Directors Network meetings which took place in London earlier this year.

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